Chapter 2101: Reality and Illusion
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Muyun Shu was on one side of the Divine Nation, while someone else was on the other side. There was another splendid picture on display over there.
It seemed like a starry dimension where a godlike shadow manifested himself. He stood on the back of a giant Divine Ape from the starry sky of ancient times. Together, they conducted themselves in a stately and majestic manner, which made the godlike figure on the Divine Ape’s back even more regal. He looked like the king of the starry sky.
Ye Futian came to the realization that it was probably also one of the seven Lord Protectors. Shi family in Four Corner Village inherited this technique. A young man from the Shi family was standing there right now.
Out of the seven Divine Techniques, four of them were in possession of four different families—Muyun family, Shi family, Gu family, and Tie family. In fact, Blind Tie was the only one in the Tie family who possessed the technique. The villagers had been treating him differently ever since he lost his vision and came back to the village. Many people believed that the Tie family would be replaced sooner or later. It all depended on whether Blind Ties son, Tie Tou, was blessed with the technique.
Even though some people might come by some other cultivation opportunities, no one outside of the four families was endowed with the Divine Techniques.
Ye Futian stood in place and quietly watched everything, pondering what kind of power brought this world into being. He released wisps of energy from his body, and his eyes started to glow with eerie divine light as if he was trying to see through this world.
At this moment, the world became much clearer to him. Ye Futian sensed that this seemingly illusory world was actually quite real. The energy of the Great Path was perfect, and it really seemed to be a world set up by the ancient Gods.
The villagers believed that only people who were blessed by Gods could acquire cultivation opportunities here. Ye Futian supposed that it was because the blessed ones were compatible with the Great Path here. That was why they could see some of the scenes of the Great Path and gain cultivation opportunities from those. Common folks couldn’t sense anything happening here because their minds were not matched with the Great Path.
Nevertheless, why did this world only appear every four years on the Day of Sacrificial Rites named by the villagers?
This world would materialize every four years on the Day of Sacrificial Rites, cover the village, and bring some people into the Space World.
Ye Futian looked around and said, “Let me go up and have a look.”
Then, he soared into the sky and kept heading upward until he was high above this world. His bright eyes looked down as though he was trying to fathom the mystery of this world.
He saw plenty of extraordinary phenomena, including the Divine Hammer of the Protector, the Picture of the Domineering Golden Peng Bird, the God riding the Divine Ape of the Starry Sky, and numerous Doors of Space…
Ye Futian assumed that he would be able to see all the cultivation opportunities of the seven Divine Techniques. What exactly were the villagers blessed with?
Soon, Ye Futian’s gaze focused on a tree that was swaying gently and quietly in the wind. It was only around three meters in height, not particularly tall or thick. No one else would pay attention to such an ordinary and inconspicuous tree.
Nonetheless, Ye Futian noticed that wisps of energy were flowing from the tree to the earth.
Ye Futian moved toward the tree like a flash of lightning. Soon, he landed in front of the tree. Although Xia Qingyuan and the others were surprised by Ye Futian’s action, they walked in his direction.
Ye Futian stood in silence in front of the ancient tree, watching its branches and leaves swaying in the breeze and making a rustling sound. He couldn’t sense its magic even when he was right in front of it. However, he doubted that an ordinary tree would appear in the world of the Ancient Divine Nation for no reason.
Besides, this seemed to be the only tree here.
Plants were also a form of life. This ancient tree was virtually the only living thing in this world.
Ye Futian watched the slow and rhythmical movements of the ancient tree. Wisps of energy, along with his divine consciousness, flowed out of his body and slipped into the ancient tree.
When Ye Futian’s energy of the Great Path penetrated the ancient tree, the tree swayed a little harder as though it was reacting to the invader. Invisible waves spread out, and the ancient tree was growing. Soon, it became over 100-meter tall with a much denser canopy that was swing nonstop.
With some rustling sounds, the branches of the tree suddenly started moving and attacking Ye Futian frantically. The gentle ancient tree became infuriated without warning. Ye Futian quickly stepped back to dodge the attack, but the ancient tree was so fast that it swept through the entire area in a split second. No one was swift enough to escape. Ye Futian was engulfed in no time.
Ye Futian was taken by surprise. The ancient tree swallowed him and tied him up with its plant stems. It injected energy into his body as though it was going to dissolve and absorb him.
At this point, Xia Qingyuan and the others also arrived. They were staggered by the change of events. Beigong Ao and Chen Yi immediately stepped ahead. They blasted the ancient tree with fierce Divine Thunder and slashed it with the Sword of Light, but nothing could tame the tree.
“Uncle Ye.” Little Ling and Tie Tou also ran forward with a worried look on their faces.
“What the heck is this?” Chen Yi said. The dazzling divine light burst out of his body didn’t have any effect on the ancient tree.
Ye Futian began to have a vague feeling that the ancient tree attempted to occupy his body. He unleashed a jolt of terrifying energy and illuminated the area overtaken by the ancient tree. In the meantime, he released his World Tree Spirit to strike back at the ancient tree. The two types of energy intertwined with each other.
A spot of light came into Ye Futian’s sight. Ye Futian felt like the light spot contained life and was the Spirit of the Tree.
The ancient Divine Tree had become sentient.
The light spot charged directly at Ye Futian. Ye Futian exerted all of his Spiritual Will to release the three types of power of the Great Emperor simultaneously. Blood surging in his veins, he shot out three rays of divine light and surrounded the Spirit of the Tree.
Four beams of divine light twisted together and gave off a blinding glare. Ye Futian saw many pictures within the light spot. The Spirit of the Tree was very likely to be endowed with a wisp of God Sifang’s Spiritual Will and became a living thing. It was supporting this world.
Ye Futian never thought that he would fight against the spirit of a tree. He couldn’t afford to be careless. His three beams of divine light transfigured into three different power of intent and bombarded the Spirit of the Tree, which was overwhelmed after some time.
At this moment, the vines and stems that were binding Ye Futian’s body disappeared instantly. Chen Yi and the others exhaled a sigh of relief. However, Ye Futian was still standing in front of the ancient tree as if he was merged with the tree. He opened his eyes, raised his head, and stared at the leaves, through which he saw the whole picture of this world.
He also noticed something else. There was an illusory world underneath this area. Four Corner Village and many of its villagers were trapped inside the illusory world and couldn’t get in.
Ye Futian only understood until now that Four Corner Village was the unreal world and this space which only appeared every four years was the real world.
The discovery and realization astonished Ye Futian. Everyone in the village was living in an illusory world without knowing. Did that mean that only people who had the Spirit Root and were capable of experiencing awakening could enter the real world?
That might be why the master could predict who could cultivate and who could not. Even if the people, who couldn’t cultivate on their own accord, it would only be a dream that happened in an unreal world.
Numerous pictures came into Ye Futian’s view one after another. Then, he saw another leaf that looked like a mirror. An old man with an ethereal quality appeared in the mirror.
The old man seemed to be looking at Ye Futian as well. Their gaze crossed. Ye Futian had never seen the old man before, but he already knew he was the master of Four Corner Village.
“Master?” Ye Futian transmitted a wisp of Spiritual Will over.
The master nodded slightly in the mirror as if he received Ye Futian’s message.
“This is the real world?” Ye Futian wanted to confirm his conjecture. The old man nodded again.
“What should I do?” Ye Futian asked. At this point, he didn’t know what his next step should be anymore. He had no choice but to seek advice from the old man.
“Let them see the real world,” a voice rang in Ye Futian’s head.
Ye Futian pondered for a moment and nodded, said, “I understood.”
The master was sitting quietly in the private school of Four Corner Village. He gazed into the distance. Did the chosen one finally come to the village?
He looked in the direction of the village. In an instant, the sky glowed brilliantly, and the villagers woke up with a start. They were astounded by the splendid scene that seemed to have enveloped the village.
“This is… the world of the Divine Nation,” someone exclaimed. The cultivators who had been there during the past Day of Sacrificial were also wondering what was going on.
As always, many people from the village could step into the world of the Divine Nation and gain cultivation opportunities there when it was revealed on the Day of Sacrificial Rites. At this moment, however, the restriction was lifted, and every villager could enter the world of the Divine Nation.
What did it mean?
A lot of people could feel their hearts pounding rapidly in the chests.
Blind Tie in the blacksmith shop raised his head as though he could see the world with his blind eyes. The hammer in his hand fell on the ground.
Old Ma stood outside of the yard. The scene in front of his eyes suddenly reminded him of the glowing sky on the first day Ye Futian and his friends entered the village.